Deodorant composition and process of deodorizing air



United States Patent 3,328,312 DEODORANT COMPOSITION AND PROCESS OF DEODORIZING AIR Thomas B. Laycock, Jr., and Nathaniel B. Tucker, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignors to The Procter dz Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio No Drawing. Filed Feb. 16, 1962, Ser. No. 173,835 Claims. (Cl. 252305) This invention relates to air deodorization. It comprises new compositions of matter especially adapted for deodorizing air and a process for deodorizing air.

There are many objectionable odors which are desirably controlled in an ordinary home, the most common of these being cooking, smoking, and bathroom odors. One way of controlling these odors is to mask them by means of perfumes and other pleasantly odoriferous compounds. However, this approach simply pollutes the air to a greater extent, and a substantial portion of the public finds perfumes themselves objectionable in the concentrations needed to mask objectionable odors. Another common approach to controlling odors has been oxidation of the odoriferous material by means of oxidizing agents such as sulfur dioxide, free chlorine, ozone, and hydrogen peroxide. However, these oxidizing agents are very corrosive which makes it dilficult to store and use them. This corrosiveness is especially a problem when the handy and popular pressurized can is used as a dispensing device.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a pressurized deodorant composition for treating air containing objectionable odors.

It is another object of this invention to provide a process for treating air containing objectionable odors.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a pre ferred pressurized deodorant composition, for treating air containing objectionable odors, which will leave the treated air substantially odorless.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a pressurized deodorant composition for treating air containing objectionable odors, which is essentially noncorrosive. p

The pressurized deodorant compositions of this invention comprise from about 0.001% to about 2% by weight of the composition of perchloryl fluoride (ClO F), and an aerosol propellant selected from the group consisting of trichlorofluoromethane, dichlorodifluoromethane, and mixtures thereof. Additional ingredients such as a compatible perfume can be added, if desired.

The active ingredient of this composition is perchloryl fluoride. This compound is an oxidizing agent, but is relatively non-corrosive. Unlike conventional oxidizing agents such as chlorine, this compound can be incorporated in an aerosol in an effective concentration without loss of deodorant effectiveness and danger of excessive can corrosion so long as the composition is free of moisture.

The deodorant composition of this invention is very effective against a wide variety of odors in relatively low concentrations, such as about .025 ppm. of air of perchloryl fluoride. Some of the more common odors which can be controlled by these compounds are bathroom odors, frying odors, cabbage odors, fish odors, ethyl mercaptan, and cigarette odors. The treated air is substantially odorless if no perfume is added to the product, although at higher concentrations, such as 5 ppm. in air of perchloryl fluoride a slight bleachy, disinfectant note which some people prefer, can be noticed. Concentrations in air should range from about 0.025 part per million to about 5 parts per million of perchloryl fluoride with concentrations near the lower part of the range preferred for reasons of economy.

At the concentrations and conditions of normal usage, the compositions of this inveniton are not irritating and do not leave a residue or stain on furniture, clothes, etc.

The term deodorization is a broad one comprising several mechanisms for controlling odors. It is not limited to destruction of the odoriferous materials by chemical reaction, but includes control by adsorption or absorption of the odoriferous material, desensitization of the olfactory nerve, and odor cancellation. The latter mechanism is the phenomenon which occurs when the effects of two separate compounds, at least one of which is odoriferous, cancel out, resulting in an apparent destruction of the odor.

Although it is not desired to be bound by theory, it is believed that the mechanism of deodorization for the compositions of this invention is not chemical reaction. A chemical analysis of air containing a mercaptan after the air had been treated with perchloryl fluoride failed to detect any decrease in concentration of the mercaptan. Therefore, despite the fact that perchloryl fluoride is an oxidizing agent, it is not as corrosive as conventional oxidizing agents, and yet due to the mechanism or mechanisms by which it controls odors, it is highly effective.

The concentration range of perchloryl fluoride in the composition of from about 0.001% to about 2% by weight of the composition is set on the basis of performance. Concentrations of perchloryl fluoride less than 0.001% are too expensive for the consumer since more product Will have to be used to achieve an effective concentration. Concentrations of more than 2% have increasingly strong odors of their own. Furthermore, stability of perchloryl fluoride in storage is poorer at high concentrations so that storage for a period of time will prevent the higher concentration of perchloryl fluoride in a product from delivering a correspondingly large increase in the concentration of perchloryl fluoride in the air.

The aerosol propellant is selected from the group consisting of trichlorofluoromethane, dichlorodifiuoromethane, and mixtures thereof. In general, aerosol propellants which are stable in the presence of strong oxidizing agents and which provide a pressure of from 30 to 115 pounds per square inch are suitable. A /50 mixture of diclllorodi-fiuoromethane and trichlorofluoromethane is preferred.

Once a suitable propellant has been selected, the loading of the aerosol container is carried out by conventional procedures which will not be described here in detail but 3 which may be found in Pressurized Packaging, Herska,

A., and Pickthall J., chapter V, pp. 106-123, Academic Press, Inc. (1958). Suitable additives for the compositions of this invention, but which are not necessary, include perfumes which are stable when used with strong oxidizing agents, and such antibacterial agents as hexachlorophene.

The following examples illustrate the practice of this invention and the advantages which accrue from the compositions and process of this invention.

Example I A pressurized cylinder of perchloryl fluoride was equipped with a pressure reducing valve and rotameter. The perchloryl fluoride was bled slowly into a glass cylinder containing a 50/50 mixture of trichlorofluoromethane and dichlorodifluoromethane aerosol propellants, the glass cylinder being surrounded by an alcohol-Dry Ice bath. This concentrate was then diluted with the same aerosol propellant mixture by adding 15 parts propellant to one part concentrate. One hundred and forty grams of this diluted mixture was put into a chilled standard 5 /2 oz. aerosol can and a Valve dip-tube and actuator were crimped on. This product was warmed to room temperature and analyzed. The concentration of perchloryl fluoride was about 0.4% by weight of the composition.

Twenty panelists used this product. Their reaction showed that under conventional conditions of use it was very effective in household deodorization performance and overall acceptability.

Example II A similar composition was prepared by the method of Example I having a concentration of 0.36% perchloryl fluoride by weight of the composition. This was evaluated by the following test method.

Ethyl mercaptan, chopped onions, and cigarette butts were placed, respectively, in three separate one gallon jars. Sufficient odoriferous air from these jars was placed in three similar one gallon jars to create odors of a sufficient strength that it took six 1 to dilutions (one part of the odoriferous air plus nine parts fresh air) to reach a dilution where the odor was not detectable (threshold) in the case of ethyl mercaptan and five such dilutions in the case of the onions and cigarettes. This odoriferous air provided the standard concentrations of odors for this test. 0.5 gm. of the pressurized aerosol composition of this example containing 0.36% perchloryl fluoride and the balance propellant, were sprayed into jars containing these standard concentrations of odors. (The propellant was a 50/50 mixture of trichlorofiuoromethane and dichlorofluoromethane.) The number of 1 to 10 dilutions with fresh air needed to reach a threshold odor for each of the jars was then determined. The same procedure was followed with an aerosol containing only propellant, which served as a blank.

Another set of jars with the same three standard concentrations of odors were injected with 0.5 gm. samples of the aerosol compositions until the threshold odor was reached. This procedure was also followed using the propellant blank.

Thus, in this test there were three numbers obtained for each compound and three numbers for the blanks. The first number was the sum of the number of dilutions required to reduce all three odors (standard concentrations) to a threshold level. The second number was the sum of the number of dilutions required to reduce all three odors to a threshold level after the standard odor concentration had been treated with 0.5 gm. of the test material or blank. The third figure was the sum of the number of 0.5 gm. injections of the test material or blank required to reduce the standard odor concentration to the threshold level.

These three numbers were combined arbitrarily to give a single performance number which reflects the deodorant performance of the individual compound. The sum of the last two numbers of the three is subtracted from the first number to give this performance number. The slight deodorization effect of the propellant is accounted for by computing the performance number for the blank and then subtracting this from the performance number of the test material to give a corrected performance number. This has the effect of making the performance number of the blank equal to zero. This test gave a number of 12 for perchloryl fluoride which is considered very good. This product was essentially odorless.

When perfumes which are stable to oxidizing agents are incorporated in this composition substantially equivalent results are obtained. Similarly, when sanitizers (e.g., hexachlorophene) and ethyl alcohol are incorporated in the compositions of this invention, substantially equivalent results are obtained.

What is claimed is:

1. A pressurized, moisture-free, household deodorant composition comprising from about 0.001% to about 2% by weight of the composition of perchloryl fluoride, the balance being an aerosol propellant selected from the group consisting of trichlorofiuoromethane, dichlorodifluoromethane, and mixtures thereof.

2. The composition of claim 1, containing as an additional ingredient, a perfume which is stable in the presence of oxidizing agent.

3. The composition of claim 1, containing as an additional ingredient, hexachlorophene.

4. A pressurized, moisture-free, household deodorant composition in an aerosol container comprising from about 0.001% to about 2% by weight of the composition of perchloryl fluoride, the balance being an aerosol propellant selected from the group consisting of trichlorofluoromethane and dichlorodifluoromethane, and mixtures thereof, the total weight of said composition being about grams.

5. The process of deodorizing odor-containing air comprising the step of dispersing in air, not less than about 0.025 part per million and not more than about 5 parts per million in air of perchloryl fluoride and enough to control the odor in said air.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,871,161 l/l959 Spiegel. 2,913,366 11/1959 Goebel 167l7 3,074,892 1/1963 Kulka l6739 OTHER REFERENCES The Merck Index, seventh edition, 1960, page 785.

MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner.

E. SZOKE, F. W. BROWN, R. M. REESE,

Assistant Examiners. 

1. A PRESSURIZED, MOSITURE-FREE, HOUSEHOLD DEODORANT COMPOSITION COMPRISING FROM ABOUT 0.001% TO ABOUT 2% BY WEIGHT OF THE COMPOSITION OF PERCHLORYL FLUORIDE, THE BALANCE BEING AN AEROSOL PROPELLANT SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF TRICHLOROFLUOROMETHANE, DICHLORODIFLUOROMETHANE, AND MIXTURES THEREOF. 